Chapter Summaries

Ash and his companions debated whether to keep pursuing Silver Lamp or focus on finding a way out of Senluo, while Tama Hill argued the goals could be combined. Mercury Trojan Horse then revealed that Silver Lamp had entered the Four Pillar Gods Church’s heartland, returning to her territory.

• Igula urged Ash and Harvey to abandon their pursuit of Silver Lamp and seek a way to leave Senluo, citing their loved ones and the dangers of remaining there.
• Tama Hill appeared unnoticed after training with the Blind Vision Sect and offered to teach the others his newly learned method.
• Tama Hill argued that pursuing Silver Lamp could lead them to Grey Fox legacies and her Dragon Gate Array Shopping Card, making the hunt useful for finding a way between countries.
• Ash agreed to work with Tama Hill to kill Silver Lamp, or capture her for information.
• Mercury Trojan Horse reported that Silver Lamp had appeared at Rainwood Wind Industry Park, a former Calamity Fire Sanctuary site she had destroyed.
• Mercury Trojan Horse said Silver Lamp was heading deeper into the Four Pillar Gods Church’s heartland and had returned to her territory.

Sonia became a Sword Baron but refused an acting opportunity that might tempt her to accept the Stars Blessing and raise her title. After her friends guessed she was struggling with a relationship, Sonia entered the Void Realm and Ash announced he had something to tell her and Witch.

• Sonia received her Sword Star Badge and became a Swordsmanship Researcher, gaining status and staff permissions at the university.
• Lois told Sonia that Nal Aido's studio had invited her to advise Daedalus and make a guest appearance, but Sonia declined because she feared being tempted to raise her title.
• Sonia reflected that the Starry Law's restrictions on leaving the country and admitting visitors had made her reject higher status, and she worried that recent events in the Void Realm were weakening her resolve.
• Sonia spent the afternoon rewatching Daedalus films with Adele, then left for the Meditation Building as her friends speculated that she was caught in an emotional struggle.
• In the Void Realm, Sonia addressed Ash as the Watcher, and Ash said he had something to tell Sonia and Witch before they began exploring.

Ash confessed his guilt and inability to choose between Sonia and Diya, while Sonia admitted how deeply she feared losing him. Their confrontation was interrupted by a deadly illusion that scrambled everyone’s positions and created disguised duplicates, leaving Ash facing a Sword Maiden who drew her sword to attack him.

• Ash told Sonia and Diya about his past intimate encounters with Annan and Silver Lamp, then admitted he had delayed answering them because he feared losing the people who loved him.
• Sonia confessed her jealousy and fear that she would come to hate Ash, while Diya said she would accept him even if he did not choose her.
• Sonia asked why Ash had not pretended to ignore their feelings and kept them both; Ash said he could not bear to watch them suffer.
• The Fate Gear activated the True and False Mutual Killing illusion, which scrambled the outsiders’ positions and spawned disguised Artificer Projections they had to kill to escape.
• Ash encountered a Sword Maiden who demonstrated her Ice Crystal Shoes, then drew her sword and said she would kill him to vent her anger.

Diya confronted her feelings for Ash and searched the laboratory, destroying false versions of Ash and Sword Maiden as she tried to determine what the real Sword Maiden would do. She left after rejecting a fake Sword Maiden’s proposal to share Ash under a negotiated arrangement, convinced the real Sword Maiden would not respond so rationally to love.

• Diya learned that Ash felt guilty because he sensed her sadness, and she told a false Ash that she would continue to love him even if she was not the only one.
• Diya killed the false Ash after he suggested he might break things off with Sword Maiden, knowing the real Ash would never abandon her.
• Diya met a false Sword Maiden who said she planned to force Ash to choose her, then claimed she would leave him rather than remain in a painful rivalry; Diya killed the impostor because the real Sword Maiden would not give up.
• A second false Sword Maiden proposed that she and Diya share Ash while restricting his other relationships, with Sword Maiden receiving the largest share of his love.
• Diya killed the second impostor and left the laboratory, saying that Sword Maiden would not reason rationally about love.

Sonia confronted her fear that Ash might find love elsewhere and resolved not to let herself become trapped in a painful relationship. After killing the Curse Affix’s fake versions of the Witch and Ash, she reunited with the real Ash and made him promise to keep searching for a way to Star Country, then forbade him from falling in love before they met.

• Sonia reflected on Ash’s loneliness and her jealousy, and resolved not to soften her heart toward him when she should not.
• A fake Witch said she would give up Ash, but Sonia recognized that the real Witch would not surrender and killed the illusion.
• Sonia killed several fake Ashes, rejecting their apologies and pleas to let her go.
• Sonia reunited with the real Ash, who hugged her without hesitation, and she beat him before accepting his apology.
• Sonia made Ash promise to keep searching for a way to Star Country and told him not to fall in love before they met.

Ash and Sonia agreed to keep their relationship secret from Witch while preserving their team’s boundaries, and Sonia accepted that Ash would pursue her if she left him. Meanwhile, Annan considered how she might win Ash over when he returned, Sonia’s roommates noticed her newfound happiness, and Silver Lamp resolved that she alone would have Ash.

• Ash and Sonia discussed Sonia’s conditions, agreed to seek Witch’s opinion on their proposal, and admitted they would still pursue each other if separated.
• Liss asked Annan what she would do if Ash returned, and Annan planned to draw him into an intimate reunion while Liss urged her to advance to Holy Domain.
• Sonia returned to Sword Flower University, where Adele, Lois, and Ingrid teased her about how happy she looked after reconciling with Ash.
• Silver Lamp realized she still cared about Ash and declared that only she could have him.

Black Crow explained Raven Slaughter’s division between feared martial attendants and beloved Blessing Monks, while Igula challenged him to consider the suffering White Crows endured. As the group reached a vast pit containing a ruined, symbol-covered city, Mercury Trojan Horse revealed that Silver Lamp was already under the Four Pillar Gods Church’s control.

• Black Crow told Ash that Raven Slaughter’s Black Crows killed and frightened evildoers while White Crows healed and comforted those in need.
• Igula argued that White Crows also bore severe psychological burdens, leaving Black Crow shaken.
• Ash reflected on Tama Hill’s painful memories of his former White Crow partner and his growing resolve to confront Mercury Trojan Horse.
• Ash and his companions reached a massive pit containing a ruined city covered in strange symbols and writing.
• Mercury Trojan Horse arrived and told the group that Silver Lamp was already under the Four Pillar Gods Church’s control.

Ash and the others learned that Disaster-Free City's Sanctuary slowed their senses whenever they faced danger, and Mercury Trojan Horse used the city’s protections to trap Silver Lamp in a Four Pillar Prison. As the group approached the prison, Mercury Trojan Horse explained the Four Pillar Gods’ interest in Ash and Silver Lamp, leaving Ash under pressure to reveal what potential they saw in him.

• Ash and the others questioned Mercury Trojan Horse after she said Silver Lamp had been trapped, and she demonstrated how Sanctuary slowed Ash’s perception when he faced danger.
• Mercury Trojan Horse explained that Sanctuary protected people by stretching their sensory time until they escaped danger, and the group saw Silver Lamp confined inside a Four Pillar Light Prison.
• Mercury Trojan Horse said four Saint Domain Artificers had prayed for the Four Pillar Prison to trap Silver Lamp, while Disaster-Free City let them attack without fearing her counterattacks.
• Mercury Trojan Horse explained that the Four Pillar Gods valued the potential of Ash and Silver Lamp, and she said Silver Lamp wanted to destroy reality.
• Ash said his deepest desire was to be with the person he liked, and Mercury Trojan Horse mocked his taste.

Mercury Trojan Horse trapped Silver Lamp in Four Pillar Prison, expecting Dead City to force her surrender before nightfall. Ash and his companions discovered the Church had faked the remaining daylight, and the chapter ended with them realizing they had been deceived as night had already fallen.

• Mercury Trojan Horse explained that Disaster-Free City became Dead City at night, killing anyone inside without visible injuries, and planned to wait outside while Silver Lamp chose whether to surrender.
• Ash agreed to the plan, and he and his companions declined the Church's offer to stay at its camp for the night.
• As dusk approached, Ash and his companions left the prison, but an explosion soon followed, and Mercury Trojan Horse claimed Silver Lamp had found Sanctuary's main body and was trying to seize it.
• Ash and the others rushed back and found that Three Pillar Prison still held part of the city, while the western camp's Light Art Miracle had concealed that night had already fallen.
• Mercury Trojan Horse returned calmly as Ash and the others realized she had used Dead City's mechanism to carry out her plan.

Mercury Trojan Horse revealed that she had manipulated the night to trap Ash and his allies in the Dead City, sacrificing three Saint Domain Artificers to eliminate Ash and Silver Lamp. After the group escaped her control and fought off the church Artificers, they discovered the Dead City had sealed them inside and Ash realized Silver Lamp was missing.

• Mercury Trojan Horse explained that she had lured Ash and his allies into the Dead City to kill them and Silver Lamp, then vanished from Gwen's body as the city sealed.
• Igula stopped Black Crow from killing Gwen, claimed her as a prisoner, and led her away from the church's three Saint Domain Artificers.
• The three Saint Domain Artificers attacked Ash's group after their Great Laws stopped responding, but Ash defended the group while Igula and Harvey counterattacked until the church Artificers called a halt.
• Igula refused to return Gwen to the church Artificers, and Harvey noticed that the Sanctuary effect had disappeared.
• Ash and the others found an invisible, slippery boundary sealing the Dead City, and Ash realized Silver Lamp was missing.

Ash, Igula, and the Holy Domain spellcasters searched the Dead City and argued over the Four Pillar Gods Church, ideals, and Senluo’s history. They discovered that the city had entered an extreme Slow Down effect, freezing everything around them in place.

• Igula gathered the Holy Domain spellcasters to search the Dead City, and they compared the city’s strange conditions, including unrecovering Spell Power and the absence of Twisting Green.
• The Spear Art Saint Domain argued that Senluo Zhanzhu used churches and ideals to cultivate Divine Spirits, while Black Crow defended faith and the possibility of restoring civilization.
• The Fire Art Saint Domain said he had once tried to rebuild the Calamity Fire Sanctuary but had chosen to become an ordinary person instead.
• Ash’s group returned to Silver Lamp’s prison, where Igula asked Ash to heal Gwen after she struggled to bandage her wounds.
• Igula and Ash noticed stones suspended in midair and concluded that time had not stopped but had slowed to an infinite degree.

Ash and the others discovered that the Sanctuary had trapped them in extreme time dilation and prevented them from entering the Void Realm, potentially leaving them imprisoned for thousands of years. Igula proposed that they could escape by resolving the danger the Sanctuary believed they faced.

• Black Crow threw a stone sphere, and the spellcasters found it had barely moved after ten minutes, suggesting the Sanctuary had drastically slowed their perception of time.
• Ash, Igula, and Harvey considered how the Sanctuary’s time dilation might stretch the night into thousands or tens of thousands of years, while the group realized it could drain their minds and prevent Spell Power from recovering.
• The Wind Art Holy Domain determined that the Sanctuary’s spatial confinement prevented the spellcasters from leaving Dead City or entering the Void Realm through the Gate of Truth.
• Ash chose not to force his teammates to log in through Aurora’s Sorcerer Manual, instead seeking another way to free the group and his companions.
• Gwen signaled Igula to explain her idea, and Igula concluded that the Sanctuary would release them once they escaped the danger it believed they faced.

Ash and the others searched the Dead City for the disaster that had triggered Sanctuary’s deepest Time Cage, then agreed to make Ash the Four Pillar Gods’ Touch to escape it. Their alliance collapsed when a Spear Art Saint Domain tried to kill Ash, and Silver Lamp appeared and killed him first.

• Igula concluded that Sanctuary had trapped them because an unknown catastrophe threatened the Dead City, so the group searched for clues while staying together.
• Harvey told Ash he would accept being trapped indefinitely, while Black Crow urged Ash to crush the Mercury Trojan Horse.
• The Spear Art Saint Domain proposed killing Silver Lamp so Ash could become the Touch and use the Four Pillar Gods’ power to break the Time Cage.
• Ash agreed to cooperate, but Igula noticed the Fire Art Saint Domain’s unease and realized the Spear Art Saint Domain was about to attack.
• The Spear Art Saint Domain lunged at Ash, but Silver Lamp appeared and killed him, marking the first death inside Sanctuary.

Silver Lamp killed Mond and Satepar with her future-leaping Square Cicada, and Ash deduced how the ability worked and realized Round Cicada could protect him. The Fire Art Saint Domain surrendered a deed of sale and revealed a route to a hidden space, but Harvey contracted him to serve as Alice’s Coffin Bearer.

• Sapatel joined the Four Pillar Gods Church and developed a Wind-and-Mind Domain, but Silver Lamp tore him apart after killing Mond.
• Silver Lamp left after the Fire Art Saint Domain raised his Holy Domain, and Ash explained that her Square Cicada overwrote the present with a lethal future three seconds ahead.
• Ash revealed that Round Cicada could automatically save him from death and that he still had all three of its daily uses.
• The Fire Art Saint Domain offered his own deed of sale and a route to a hidden space in the Dead City, while Black Crow recognized him as someone who had once attacked Tano Mu.
• Harvey used the Contract paper to make the Fire Art Saint Domain Alice’s Coffin Bearer, and the former Bishop accepted the role with pride.

Ash and the others followed Kikala to a hidden Blue Gate in Dead City and entered a hall containing a Truth Connection. Igula reasoned out its revelation, leaving the group with the claim that Senluo was not real.

• Kikala led Ash and the others to the flickering Blue Gate in Dead City's ruins and explained that Mond had ignored it because he wanted to kill them first.
• Ash and the others passed through the Blue Gate and found a bright hall with a Mist Wall inscribed with golden runes that stirred their thoughts.
• Kikala explained that the Truth Connection guided people to reason out knowledge using what they already knew, while the Mist Wall declared them unqualified to pass.
• Igula studied the runes and became convinced he had reached the only possible conclusion, so Ash calmed him and asked him to speak.
• Igula told Ash that Senluo was not real.

Igula concluded that Senro Country was an idealistic world where will shaped matter, explaining its Great Laws, relics, and Twisting Green. The group suspected Senluo’s nature might relate to Silver Lamp’s worldview, but Black Crow remained determined to oppose her, and Ash led them onward through the Mist Wall.

• Qikala reflected on how people perceived different sides of the world and resolved to prove his usefulness to Ash’s group.
• Igula argued that Senro Country’s Great Law system, powerful relics, and lack of Abysses showed that it was an idealistic world maintained by will and imagination.
• Igula explained that Twisting Green was like an Abyss formed from despair in the Dark Night, while Senro’s systems served the production of Divine Spirits.
• Ash reassured Black Crow that Senro remained his world, and Black Crow vowed not to surrender it to the Evil Ravens.
• Harvey suggested Silver Lamp’s philosophy of illusion might be connected to Senro’s nature, but Black Crow insisted that understanding her did not excuse her crimes.
• Ash passed through the Mist Wall and led the group onward after saying Tama Hill had been right.

After failing to answer the second Truth Connection, Ash and the others discovered that the Dead City’s runes recorded earlier inhabitants’ research into the Great Cataclysm. As they began compiling the records, Vesir secretly used Square Cicada to guide Ash toward them, anticipating that she would soon reunite with someone.

• The group failed to answer the question about what prompted the Great Law to initiate the Age of Gods, and the Blue Gate barred them from returning to the hidden Sanctuary.
• Igula theorized that people trapped in the Dead City during the Great Cataclysm had created the Sanctuary and left the Truth Connections as records of their investigation.
• Ash found runes on a wall and realized the strange writing throughout the Dead City contained information left by earlier inhabitants.
• The group searched and compiled the runes, with Gwen using the Starlight Art Spirit to carve notes into walls after their paper ran out.
• Round Cicada guided Ash to newer records while Vesir secretly used Square Cicada to lure it toward him.

Igula explained that Senluo Zhanzhu had secretly chosen which Great Laws would rule each Age of Gods, shattering Black Crow’s belief that Raven Slaughter could shape the future. Ash comforted Black Crow and reminded him that his presence still deterred evil; after the group entered the hidden Sanctuary, Igula realized its trials required people to believe the truths they derived and found a third Truth Connection asking about the ending.

• Igula used the gathered historical records to explain that Senluo Zhanzhu alone decided which Great Law would open an Age of Gods, leaving Black Crow devastated about Raven Slaughter’s lost ideals.
• Black Crow told Ash that Raven Slaughter’s sacrifices had been futile, and Ash reassured him that his continued presence still deterred Evil Ravens.
• Ash carried Black Crow back to the church ruins and promised to stop the group from becoming Evil Ravens, while Black Crow admitted he was tired.
• Qikala revealed that he still doubted the truth about Senluo Zhanzhu, slapped himself, and then passed through the Blue Gate.
• Igula concluded that the Sanctuary’s Truth Connection trials required belief as well as deduction, found the third Mist Wall, and saw equipment beyond it as everyone wondered about the ending.

Igula pieced together the third Truth Connection and realized Senluo Zhanzhu was the dying Dream Master behind Senro Country’s worsening fate. He concluded Silver Lamp had uncovered the same truth to make Ash understand it, but decided she still had to die.

• Gwen recorded evidence about Green Beasts, the Wasteland’s decline, and past Ages of Gods while Igula considered how to handle Black Crow and Silver Lamp.
• Igula reasoned that Black Crow would keep opposing Silver Lamp because of his faith and desire for revenge, and asked Harvey to help restrain him if necessary.
• Harvey brought information about the shrinking intervals between Ages of Gods, and Igula connected it to his knowledge of Dream Bubbles and their Dream Masters.
• Igula deduced that Senro Country was a Dream Bubble created by its people and Senluo Zhanzhu, who was nearing death and could contaminate the country with despair.
• Seeing Black Crow pursue Silver Lamp, Igula understood that she wanted Ash to learn Senluo Zhanzhu’s secret and told Harvey they were going to kill her.

Vesir fought Black Crow and the others as they tried to stop her from interfering with their discovery of Dead City's secret. Ash joined the attack, leaving Vesir hurt and angry that he had come so close to uncovering the truth about her.

• Black Crow used pebbles frozen in time as midair footholds to dodge Vesir's attacks and strike at her Holy Domain.
• Vesir used Wind Entangling Thread and Reeling Thread to trap Black Crow, but he escaped with a severe arm wound as Ash arrived.
• Black Crow accused Silver Lamp of trying to erase a clue, and Qikala and a Star Art Master joined the fight against Vesir.
• Ash realized Gwen's hatred of Silver Lamp had led her to accept Mercury Trojan Horse's descent, and Gwen moved in close to attack Vesir.
• Harvey, Igula, and Ash attacked Vesir, but she turned their attacks against one another and then charged into battle against all six.